Going back through some things, I noticed something interesting about the unfortunate 2004 season...
| 2004 | Yds/Play | OppYds/Play | Diff |
| NCSU | 4.9 | 3.5 | +1.4 |
| VT | 5.5 | 4.4 | +1.1 |
| UVA | 6.1 | 5.0 | +1.1 |
| FSU | 5.2 | 4.3 | +0.9 |
| Miami | 5.5 | 4.8 | +0.7 |
| GT | 5.0 | 4.5 | +0.5 |
| Clemson | 4.4 | 4.4 | 0 |
| UNC | 6.0 | 6.2 | -0.2 |
| UMd | 4.3 | 4.5 | -0.2 |
| Wake | 5.0 | 5.4 | -0.4 |
| Duke | 4.2 | 6.1 | -1.9 |
Thanks mostly to a dominant defense, NC State was better on a down-to-down basis than every other team in the conference. And thanks to an offense that was about as stable as a drunk monkey on ice skates, the team finished under .500 both overall and in conference play.
Some fun facts:
-- Since 2000, there have been 16 other instances where an ACC team has finished a season with a yds/play margin of 1.0 or better. The combined record of those teams: 152-52 (.745) overall, 95-33 (.742) in conference play.
-- The '04 team's +1.4 margin is better than that of the '02 team that won 11 games.
-- The 2004 team out-gained all 11 opponents. It out-gained seven opponents by 100+ yards and lost three of those games. Out-gained UNC by 221 yards, averaged 7.4 yards per play, and lost. Full game-by-game breakdown after the jump.
Something to ponder: if the 2004 team has the results to match the performance, it goes bowling. Does The Chest still get canned after 2006, what with that being his first down season after six consecutive bowl appearances?
| Opp | NCSU Tot Yds | Opp Tot Yds | Tot Yds Diff | NCSU Yds/Play | Opp Yds/Play | Yds/Play Diff | TO Margin | W/L |
| Richmond | 403 | 167 | +236 | 5.8 | 2.7 | +3.1 | +2 | W |
| Ohio St | 256 | 137 | +119 | 4.3 | 2.2 | +2.1 | -4 | L |
| Va Tech | 223 | 192 | +31 | 4.0 | 2.8 | +1.2 | -1 | W |
| Wake | 455 | 279 | +176 | 5.6 | 4.7 | +0.9 | -1 | W |
| UNC | 577 | 356 | +221 | 7.4 | 6.7 | +0.7 | -3 | TLB* |
| Maryland | 303 | 91 | +212 | 4.0 | 1.6 | +2.4 | -1 | W |
| Miami | 440 | 416 | +24 | 6.0 | 5.5 | +0.5 | -2 | L |
| Clemson | 381 | 267 | +114 | 4.8 | 3.9 | +0.9 | -5 | L |
| Ga Tech | 291 | 269 | +22 | 4.1 | 4.4 | -0.3 | 0 | L |
| FSU | 123 | 121 | +2 | 2.1 | 1.8 | +0.3 | 0 | L |
| ECU | 387 | 140 | +247 | 5.0 | 2.1 | +2.9 | -2 | W |
| TOTALS | 3839 | 2435 | +1404 (+128 yds/g) | 4.9 | 3.5 | +1.4 | -17 |
5-6 |
(*: Tastes Like Burning)